This article first appeared on the Usenet newsgroup soc.culture.lebanon on 30 Jun 1996

INTRODUCTION & LEBANON'S ENVIRONMENT

My name is Fareed Abou-Haidar. I discovered this newsgroup a couple of
weeks ago and decided to join in. I studied at International College and
got my B.S. in Agriclulture at AUB. I moved from Beirut in 1984 and now
live in Mesa, Arizona. My main activity is hiking; I go out almost every
weekend. This is a big change from Lebanon where my hiking was very
limited after 1975 because of the war.

After "lurking" for a while, I have noticed that the newsgroup has a very
important topic largely missing: the *environmental problems* of Lebanon.
A lot of you may have been outside Lebanon for a long time and don't
realize how bad things are back home. (I was last there in Summer '95.)
Therefore, I have decided to post mini environmental "newsletters" every
now-and-then (perhaps once a week to 10 days) discussing various
environemental problems, as well as hiking opportunities in Lebanon. (Yes,
there are alternatives to beaches, shopping and restaurants in Lebanon!)
*I will avoid politics entirely.*

Contact the authorities (such as the Ministry
of the Environment) and express your disgust, especially you folks living
in Lebanon. Write letters to the editors of the newspapers. Al-Nahar seems
to be especially in favor of saving Lebanon's environment, as they have
published my Letters to the Editor and even photographs I have sent them.
(That includes one of the hill near Bshamoun, discussed in the previous
issue of LebEnv.) I am sure many other newspapers share an equally
sympathetic view. I have written many letters to the newspapers concerning
environmental issues, both when I was living in Lebanon and, more
recently, during visits. Also, get in touch with the many environmental
organizations in Lebanon, especially if you see something new that they
might not know about. I gave information about some of them in a previous
issue of LebEnv; I will repeat the info every now and then in future
issues.